Homosexuality

Chronology of Coverage

Mar. 13, 2014

Small but growing number of subsidized apartment complexes are offering a welcoming environment to low- and moderate-income gay seniors, who often face housing discrimination. MORE

Mar. 7, 2014

Man yelling antigay slurs accosts a male couple on a subway platform in Greenwich Village and punches one of the men in the face; victim suffers broken nose, fractured orbital bone and cut above the eye; police say attack was biased and are searching for suspect. MORE

Mar. 3, 2014

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s refusal to march in annual St Patrick's Day Parade because it prohibits gay groups has left him caught between the city’s traditional Irish enclaves and progressive advocates emboldened by his leftward leanings. MORE

Mar. 3, 2014

Brooklyn Nets center Jason Collins, NBA’s first publicly gay player, is set to make his initial Barclays Center appearance; is drawing some parallels to Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball's color barrier in 1947. MORE

Mar. 3, 2014

Alessandra Stanley observes that gay rights held Hollywood’s attention at 86th Academy Awards ceremony, but host Ellen DeGeneres was more lighthearted about the issue. MORE

Mar. 2, 2014

Issue of gay rights has come to forefront of international diplomacy since United Nations Human Rights Council's 2011 resolution to extend human rights principles to homosexuals; United States and other donor countries face challenges as they try to influence governments that discriminate. MORE

Mar. 2, 2014

Deal is being worked out that may allow gay advocacy group MassEquality to march in South Boston's St Patrick's Day parade, which would mark significant cultural shift in historically insular Irish enclave. MORE

Mar. 1, 2014

New York City Police Commissioner William J Bratton says he intends to march in city's St Patrick’s Day Parade despite Mayor Bill de Blasio's announcement that he will not participate because of parade's history of excluding gay organizations; statement puts Bratton in rare conflict with de Blasio. MORE

Feb. 28, 2014

News analysis; decision by members of the Republican establishment to join gay activists in opposing discriminatory Arizona bill reflects alarm the battle stirred among party leaders, who worry about identifying their party with polarizing social issues at a time when Republicans see the prospect of big gains in Congressional elections on economic issues. MORE

Feb. 27, 2014

Arizona's Republican Gov Jan Brewer vetoes bill that would have given business owners the right to refuse service to gay men, lesbians and other people on religious grounds; action comes amid mounting pressure from Arizona business leaders, who said bill would be a financial disaster and tarnish state's reputation; prominent members of the Republican establishment also sided with bill's opponents. MORE

Feb. 27, 2014

Secretary of State John Kerry condemns the antigay measure signed into law in Uganda, saying it is as serious a moral offense as anti-Semitism in 1930s Germany or apartheid in white-led South Africa; Uganda law imposes harsh sentences for homosexual acts, including life imprisonment in some cases. MORE

Feb. 27, 2014

Gail Collins Op-Ed column reflects on odd situation in Arizona where corporations are railing against bill that would have allowed businesses to discriminate against gay people on grounds of social conviction; notes while human rights struggles often begin with individuals, victories are sometimes decided when corporations decide that discrimination is bad for business. MORE

Feb. 26, 2014

Maureen Dowd Op-Ed column expresses support for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for boycotting the St Patrick's Day Parade in Manhattan because it excludes gays. MORE

Feb. 26, 2014

Rookie sports agents Joe Barkett and Cameron Weiss have faced head-spinning challenges since their client Michael Sam announced that he would try to forge an NFL career as a publicly gay man; pair accompanied Sam to NFL combine, where they received outsize attention from media and marketers. MORE

Feb. 26, 2014

Jason Collins says he welcomes the opportunity to focus simply on basketball following two whirlwind days in which he signed with the Brooklyn Nets, becoming NBA's first openly gay player. MORE

Feb. 25, 2014

Ugandan Pres Yoweri Museveni signs into law a bill imposing harsh sentences for homosexual acts, including life imprisonment in some cases; move comes after Nigerian Pres Goodluck Jonathan took similar steps in his own country, although the Ugandan law seems even tougher. MORE

Feb. 25, 2014

Arizona Gov Jan Brewer faces pressure to veto measure passed by the Legislature that would grant business owners the right to invoke religion to refuse service to gays and others; measure has cast unwanted national attention on the state. MORE

Feb. 25, 2014

Feb. 25, 2014

Jason Collins and his Brooklyn Nets teammates play down his return to the NBA as the league’s first openly gay active player. MORE

Feb. 24, 2014

Harvey Araton On Pro Basketball column asserts that no matter how much playing time Brooklyn Nets center Jason Collins gets, count on him to embrace his role as the first openly gay and active athlete in one of the four major American professional sports leagues. MORE

Feb. 24, 2014

Brooklyn Nets defeat Los Angeles Lakers, 108-102; Nets center Jason Collins makes his debut after signing 10-day contract, becoming the first openly gay athlete to play in the NBA. MORE

Feb. 24, 2014

NBA center Jason Collins signs a 10-day contract with Brooklyn Nets and plays against Los Angeles Lakers hours later, appearing in an NBA uniform for the first time since announcing in 2013 that he is gay; signing represents significant step toward transforming North American professional sports into a more welcoming environment for gay athletes. MORE

Feb. 23, 2014

NFL draft prospect Michael Sam meets with reporters at Lucas Oil Stadium; unlike any other soon-to-be professional football players, he wears button representing gay pride at his first news conference since publicly declaring his sexual orientation. MORE

Feb. 21, 2014

Arizona Legislature passes measure allowing business owners asserting their religious beliefs to refuse service to gay men, lesbians and others, drawing backlash from Democrats. MORE

Feb. 21, 2014

Idelfonso Mendez, reputed leader of a Bronx gang calling itself the Latin King Goonies, will be sentenced to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to gang assault in the first degree; Mendez's gang lured a man to an apartment and then beat and tortured him for hours in one of New York's most savage antigay crimes. MORE

Feb. 21, 2014

Advertising column; Banana Republic's new campaign will present gay interior designer Nate Berkus with his fiance, Jeremiah Brent, as one of the stylish pairs who are together in real life. MORE

Feb. 21, 2014

Brooklyn Nets, seeking a frontcourt big man, are looking at Jason Collins, free-agent center who announced in 2013 that he is gay. MORE

Feb. 20, 2014

Surrogate baby-making, though restricted in many states, is growing among gay men; practice has long been path taken by the affluent and celebrities, partly because it takes good legal advice and money to accomplish, but in recent years has become popular option for gay men who see having children as logical next step after getting married. MORE

Feb. 17, 2014

Feb. 16, 2014

Mob drags more than dozen young men from their homes in Nigerian capital Abuja, and beats them while claiming to be cleansing community of homosexuals; police participate in assaults and no members of mob are arrested. MORE

Feb. 16, 2014

Feb. 15, 2014

Op-Ed article by author Nicholas Dawidoff argues that professional football, based on strength, virility and manly bonding, has an unmistakable homoerotic component; holds fear of confronting this truth may motivate sport's notorious homophobia; holds sport could use a transformative moment in case of Michael Smith, who has come out as possibly NFL's first openly gay player. MORE

Feb. 13, 2014

Op-Ed article by law student Jacob M Victor holds that existing state laws forbidding businesses from engaging in deceptive practices may be more effective at ending gay conversion therapy than state laws that ban such practices outright; says businesses' claims that sexual orientation can be changed falls under umbrella of deceptive trade practice. MORE

Feb. 13, 2014

British actor Samuel Barnett, starring in Richard III and Twelfth Night, Shakespearean productions in which men are playing the female roles, discusses sacrifices he is making in preparing for roles and current landscape for gay actors. MORE

Feb. 12, 2014

Editorial contends that African nations are leaders in the cruel and dehumanizing trend of intolerance and persecution of gays and lesbians; points to ban on same-sex relationships signed into law in Nigeria as one of the most significant setbacks to gay rights on the continent. MORE

Feb. 12, 2014

Sochi Olympics Roundup; members of American luge team express irritation at popular Canadian video that celebrates diversity by implying that luge is a vaguely gay sport; say theme is old, tired and inappropriate. MORE

Feb. 12, 2014

Profile of National Football League prospect Michael Sam, who is poised to become a trailblazer in the sport after publicly coming out as gay; challenges that lie ahead of Sam are but another step in a life that has been filled with difficulties that made him look to football as a salvation. MORE

Feb. 11, 2014

Editorial praises updated policies unveiled by the Justice Department as it seeks to eliminate distinction between same-sex and opposite-sex married couples in the federal justice system; criticizes Obama administration for hesitating to move forward with measure that would bar federal contractors from refusing to hire workers on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. MORE

Feb. 11, 2014

Frank Bruni Op-Ed column mocks commentators and others who fear upheaval in locker rooms now that University of Missouri defensive end Michael Sam is on track to become first openly gay player in the NFL; argues that such anxieties are ridiculous, and based on long-outdated stereotypes of gay men. MORE

Feb. 11, 2014

NFL's reception of Michael Sam, top college football defensive lineman who has come out as gay, will probably depend on how well he produces on the field; his declaration has engendered a range of public reaction, most of it positive, but it will be tested in the NFL draft, or when he meets his new teammates. MORE

Feb. 10, 2014

Michael Sam, all-American defensive end at the University of Missouri, publicly announces that he is gay; Sam, top NFL prospect, is now on course to become the first openly gay player in the league, reflecting accelerating pace of gay rights movement and opening door for other gay athletes to come forward. MORE

Feb. 10, 2014

Juliet Macur Sports Of The Times column welcomes Missouri defensive end Michael Sam's declaration that he is gay; holds that there is no better moment than now to plow ahead and topple wall of discrimination in professional sports, and for the NFL to grapple with the place of gays within its tough-guy image. MORE

Feb. 9, 2014

Arrests of gay people in Nigeria have multiplied since Pres Goodluck Jonathan signed a harsh law criminalizing homosexuality throughout the country; advocates have been forced to go underground, some people fearful of the law have sought asylum overseas and news media demands for a crackdown have flourished. MORE

Feb. 6, 2014

Protesters around the world pressure Olympic sponsors to speak out explicitly against Russia's law restricting gay-rights activities; AT&T was first to speak out, but leading global sponsors have not yet joined in. MORE

Feb. 5, 2014

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio says he will not march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Manhattan, citing event’s longstanding tensions with gay and lesbian groups; de Blasio, who says he will participate in other events on St Patrick's day to honor city's Irish-Americans, is the first New York mayor in 20 years not to march in parade. MORE

Feb. 4, 2014

Court in Russia's Far East finds three men guilty of murdering a man in an attack that prosecutors say was motivated by homophobia. MORE

Feb. 4, 2014

Police in Idaho arrest dozens of gay rights activists after they block entrances to Idaho Senate chambers in Boise for more than two hours; protestors are demanding that lawmakers agree to take up a bill adding antidiscrimination protections for gay and transgender people. MORE

Feb. 4, 2014

Frank Bruni Op-Ed column points out, for all the focus on Russia's anti-gay climate in lead up to the Olympics, there are many other places that are far more hostile to homosexuals; relates tragic story of gay man's death while in detention in Cameroon, one of 75 nations that explicitly criminalizes same-sex activity. MORE

Feb. 2, 2014

Many gay people are divided about whether to watch the Sochi Olympics after Russia passed law banning 'homosexual propaganda' and Pres Vladimir V Putin made anti-gay statements; some believe the televised sports events should be boycotted, while others say there is nothing to be gained by switching to another channel. MORE

Gov. Mike Pence said he would seek legislation to clear up misunderstandings about the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, denying that it gives license to discriminate against gays and lesbians.

Gov. Mike Pence said he would support legislation to “clarify the intent” of a new state law that has attracted widespread criticism over concerns that it could allow discrimination against gay people.